Sunlight with frost and ice at Leighton Moss on a December morning. The day was still and we listened to the confiding chatter amongst a brood of cygnets along the track to the public hide. There was ice on the pools, with striking pattern where swans found open water. Narcissus like, the swan dips its head and forages- admiring its reflection in the water. Reeds and bulrushes reflect in warm colour and the reed beds look warm in the sunlight. There was the piglet squeal of a water rail which lurked unseen.

On an icy morning you can bet the robins will be food-begging, so Jill and I had our pockets crammed with seed to scatter. And they came so close.